How to Manage Social Media Burnout

Burned out from social media?



If it’s part of your job, or your entire job, to market and grow your business on social media, experiencing burnout can be quite destructive to your business. The good news is that you can prevent, manage, and recover from social media burnout.

Burnout occurs when you spend too much time, energy, and attention doing something and begin to feel less joy from the activity. In fact, one of the first signs of burnout is procrastination, apathy, and then perhaps a downright avoidance of the activity. If you find that you are feeling less than enthusiastic about social media, and using it to grow your business, then you’re likely experiencing social media burnout.

If your marketing strategy focuses on social media and you’re experiencing burnout then you’re going to start seeing lackluster results from your social media efforts - if you haven’t already. Burnout often causes people to engage less, engage in a less authentic or social way, and to perhaps comment or respond in a way that you might occasionally regret. You can actually harm your brand by being burned out on social media.

The first key to managing social media burnout is to recognize that it is a problem or a potential problem. Then you can begin to take a look at what will work for you to best avoid or manage the situation. Common solutions include:

Scheduled Down Time - you may feel like you have to be on social 24/7, you don’t. Schedule downtime for yourself and don’t pick up your phone or engage on social unless you’re scheduled to do so. For example, you might stay off social for one hour each night before bedtime.

Take Breaks - Take five, or even ten, minutes every hour and rest your eyes. Move them away from your computer or phone and either rest them or do something else. Walk, brainstorm content on a piece of paper, pet a dog. Just pull your attention away from social for a few minutes.

Leverage Technology - Leverage other apps to help you create systems and manage your time. You can, for example, install apps that prevent you from accessing social media during certain times of the day - you set these times. You can use the services that let you know when your brand has been mentioned so that you can engage and respond in a timely manner. When you’re not responding, you can be away from the social sites and engaging in other activities.

Create Structure for Your Time - Schedule your day and designate time for specific social media activities. For example, you might set aside an hour to post. Another hour to comment on posts you were mentioned in. A separate hour to brainstorm content. Create content, review analytics, initiate partnerships or reach out to existing partners. Etc...you get the idea. By creating a structure to your day, you give purpose to your time.

Finally, and this is by no means the least important step, take good care of your health. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating a healthy diet. Stress can have a serious impact on your health and it can play a role in your burnout. Taking care of your health can help you feel more positive, energized, and capable of setting boundaries with social media.